5 years ago today was one of the biggest surprises for James. It was his 50th birthday and I pulled off a huge surprise party. He had told me not to do a party and that he didn’t want the celebration for him. That is how he always was, so selfless. His birthday was the one day a year we could celebrate him and that he didn’t put myself or the kids first.

We always had his favorite dinner at Outback–we had cake with extra icing, and most of the time a banana split. For his 50th, I had been saving up for months so he wouldn’t notice any major purchases on the credit cards or from the bank account. With the help of a few of his buddies we had a big cookout with family and friends. It was an absolute perfect day.

At the end of the night, as we were laying in bed, he thanked me for the party. “Thank you for loving me enough to insist on doing something like today for me.” I was afraid he would be mad after being so against a party but instead he was thankful that I put so much into making the day all about him. We only had two more birthdays after that with him here on this earth. I will always look back and think maybe God pushed me to go ahead with the party, knowing our days were numbered. Happy Birthday my love, although you’re forever 52, I’ll celebrate 55 for you!